The System Administrators Guild of Australia has provided a submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Cyber Safety on behalf of its members. It can be found here: SAGE-AU parliamentary inquiry cyber safety submission

The Parliamentary Inquiry seeks to understand several elements of the online environment pertinent to cyber safety, particularly as pertains to minors. SAGE-AU's submission focuses on those areas to which it can provide expert comment, and in general recommends the following three prong approach to addressing safety:

• Education in Internet-appropriate behaviours for all Internet users, especially children;
• The use of suitably equipped law enforcement in an appropriate manner to deal with illegal material, content, or criminal behaviour in a timely and effective fashion; and
• Technological measures applied on end user computers, as and where required, including but not limited to:
  • appropriate anti-virus protection;
  • appropriate firewalling;
  • application of software updates; and
  • local client side Internet filtering where deemed appropriate by equipment owners.

SAGE-AU's submission emphasises technology is not a "silver bullet" capable of addressing social issues, and with this in mind sees education and law enforcement as the most appropriate way to address the matters addressed by the Inquiry.

The submission further recommends Australia takes a leadership role in defining inter-organisation cooperation in fostering a safe online environment, and in the appropriate use of technology where fit to do so.